Short version: The iPhone may be good at a lot of things – but one thing its definitely not known for is its good battery life. It definitely has better battery than some devices (we’re looking at you, T-Mobile G1), but it still pretty terrible. If you’re a heavy user, you’ll want a backup battery – but there are oh-so-many of them to choose from. Which one’s the right one for you? If you’re carrying an iPhone and an iPod or two, the iPWR backup battery is a solid pick.
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It’s been just one month since email startup Xobni got an investment from the Blackberry Partners Fund, which brought its total B round up to $10 million, and already it has a working prototype for an upcoming Blackberry app. Xobni executives were showing off the app at a Mobile Meetup in San Francisco last night, and the screenshot above found its way into my inbox (which is “xobni” spelled backwards, you know).
The app was working, and could be released sometime this summer, according to my source. The photo above shows the app on a Blackberry Bold, and appears to be showing off its contact search functionality. You type in a few letters, and it returns the contact information for every match in your inbox (even people who you haven’t necessarily added to your address book yet). I wonder what else it can do.
Good news, BlackBerry users! Never again will you need to kludge around in your browser just to dig up a number or determine who’s behind the number that just called. Following the success of their iPhone and Android applications, WhitePages will soon be announcing the upcoming availability of a native BlackBerry application.
It’ll still be a few days before the app makes its way to the BlackBerry App World, but we’ve been tinkering with a pre-release copy for a few days now.
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I don’t generally check to see what’s new in apps when I’m prompted to update, but I’m glad I did. The latest Google app update put a ninja into your iPhone. We’re all doomed.
The latest 2009 JD Power Consumer Smartphone Satisfaction Study numbers are in. And the winner is … the iPhone. Apple’s device nearly swept every category, with top marks in operating system, features, ease of operation, physical design and overall satisfaction. In fact, the only device it didn’t receive the highest marks in was “battery aspects.”
Looking at the chart, all of Apple’s rivals in the smartphone field were middling. HTC, Motorola, Palm, RIM and Samsung had mostly 2 or 3 stars across the board where Apple had 5. LG faired second best with 4 stars across the board expect for operating system, where it got 3.
It looks like all it took for details of Palm’s post-Pre phone to begin spilling out was for us to break the news of it yesterday. Just hours after, a blurry shot of the handset was out. Now, before the next day is even half way over, a decent shot and a full list of purported specs have made their way out.
We’re getting conflicting reports of what this thing is codenamed. Some are calling it “Pixie”, while others are calling it “Castle”. As for it’s official name, it’s currently believed to be called the “Palm EOS”, which seems like a horrible name compared to “Palm Pre”. Looking like the oh-so-gorgeous offspring of a Centro and a Pre, all we know is that we’re aching to touch it.
Engadget managed to obtain the shot above, along with these purported specs:
- Dimensions: 10.6×55x111mm
- Weight: 100 grams
- 2.63″, 320×400 capacitive touch screen
- 4GB of internal memory
- Tentative price of $349 before rebates. Our sources are indicating that the target price point is $99 after all is said and done.
- 2MP camera, fixed focus, with flash
- Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP and EDR, USB 2.0 via micro USB
- 1150mAh battery, removable
- SMS, MMS, built-in IM client
- A-GPS
- WAV, MP3, AAC, AAC+ ringtones, MPEG4, H.264, H.263 video playback.
All signs and sources point at this one heading to AT&T. That’s good news for AT&T customers not looking to switch to Sprint just for webOS/Pre – but bad news for Sprint, who was likely counting on just that.
After four long months,the Android v1.5 “Cupcake” update has finally been made available to the masses in the UK and USA. As April 29th came to a close, the first reports of update notifications came trickling in, and they’ve continued throughout the morning.
As usual, it’s not hitting every handset at the same time. Don’t panic if you’ve yet to see the prompt – you’ll probably see it within a day or two, tops. This one’s a big one, so look forward to some exploration. You’ll have video recording, stereo bluetooth, onscreen keyboards, live folders, new widgets, a brushed up browser, and a slew of performance upgrades and bug fixes to check out. Be sure to drop a comment and let us know when it hits your handset!
(Our favorite part: Though “Cupcake” was originally just an internal moniker for the development branch, the name has become official enough that it’s in the update notification.)
[via Phandroid]
I think that’s a phone, no wait, it’s a stapler, no wait, it’s a ham sandwich. That right there is actually the next Palm webOS handset, according to A Boy Genius tipster who really needs a better camera phone.
Honestly, there is no way to confirm whether this is the phone that Michael Arrington’s source was talking about, but at least the form factor seems about right for a Pre-Mini and follows the company’s low-cost Centro styling. But then again, that pic could be the Lock Ness Monster herself, and we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Apparently there were a few lucky people out there who go their Sidekicks a bit earlier then others, and one of them was kind enough to take some shots of an unboxing and share it on the intarwebs for all to see.
Two of the biggest country markets of the world, Japan and China, are on their way to develop a next-generation mobile phone network for the Chinese market that paves the way for Japanese phone makers. The Chinese cell phone structure is still mainly based on 2G (Japan turned 100% 3G just a few weeks ago).
I came across some very interesting news today. I was mostly minding my own business, hammering away at our various sources in the hardware industry and trying to dig up some sort of information on exactly when the Palm Pre (pictured right) might be launching, and how many of them will be available. Rumors are flying about both of those issues over the last couple of days.
And then, wham! A whole new rabbit hole to jump down. One of our better sources indicated to us that Palm is “very far along” on a second Pre-like device and currently has plans to put it on the market in the late part of 2009, possibly as early as the Fall.
This is too soon for a second generation device (Apple releases new generation iPhones yearly). and Palm won’t be expecting people to upgrade their Palm Pre to this new device just a few months after buying a Pre. It’s addressing a different part of the market.
If you’re a social site maven who happens to be dying to dabble with the Pre, Palm wants to talk to you.
Palm has just announced a “Real Reviewer” program, in which they’ll be giving a select chunk of socialites a “current-model” Palm phone (read: probably the Pre), along with six months of service.
This is by no means the first time a phone company has proffered up a device in exchange for reviews; companies loan bloggers, journalists, and reviewers of other titles their latest gear on a daily basis. But that’s a bit different – reviewing stuff is part of our job description. That said, this isn’t the first time a company has opened up testing to the non professional, either. Nokia, for example, started up the “Nokia Pilot” testing program last year. However, I think this may be the first testing program specifically targeted at the Twitter/Facebook/Indie blog group – and if they pick their participants correctly, this could be a genius move. Major blogs and magazines carry a certain level of inherent authority, but any influence they have is rarely due to a personal connection with the reader. People tend to trust the opinions of people they know, even if they only e-know them. Get the kid who has (and communicates with) 5,000 followers to rave about the Pre, and Palm will have piqued the interest of a lot of folks they’d have otherwise missed.
If you get picked, you won’t be getting something for nothing – but what they’re expecting isn’t exactly grueling labor. In exchange for the half-year of free Pre, they want you to share any and every thought you have about the device on your favorite social network, blog, or whichever other soapbox you prefer.
If you’re interested, applying isn’t too tough. Answer 9 or 10 questions about yourself, ranging from “What phone do you currently have?” to “How would you describe yourself in 1 word?” (Ooh, ooh! Go with “delicious”! If nothing else, it’ll creep them out enough that they’ll pick you out of fear.), and then wait until Palm picks their favorites come May 8th. What have you got to lose? Sign up here.
It’s pretty much obligatory at this point: someone announces a new piece of hardware, gets a lot of attention, and iSuppli tears it apart and prices the components.
Whether they’ve managed to get ahold of a Pre and actually tear it apart or they just dug up a list of components, we’re not sure – but iSuppli has pinned the final bill of materials for the Palm Pre at $137.38. Thats 46% of the $300 iSuppli expects Palm to charge Sprint for each handset, and 68% of 200 bucks they expect Sprint to charge the customer after subsidies. Not too bad – but of course, it doesn’t include R&D costs, marketing costs, nor all of the talent Palm had to hire to dig them out of their grave.
[Via TGDaily]
Want something that looks like Motorola’s aborted Sidekick Slide? That runs Android? That has buttons like the RAZR? Well, you’re in luck because Moto is planning to launch the Android-powered Calgary on Verizon.
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Not too shabby, Slacker. Less than 4 months after Slacker for BlackBerry was launched at CES 2009, Slacker, Inc. has announced that it has surpassed 1 million downloads.
Now, 1 million might not seem like all that much in the shadow of the iTunes App Store and its 1 billion served – but remember, this is the BlackBerry we’re talking about. A huge chunk of BlackBerry owners never download applications, with another significant chunk only ever downloading between 1-5. Taking that into considering, 1 million downloads in 4 months is a pretty big deal.
That said, we’d still be interested in hearing the number of downloads the iPhone port has seen so far. It’s been available for about a week less than its BlackBerry brethren, but spent a ton of time in the App Store’s Top 25 Free Apps list. We’d be willing to bet it passed the million mark quite some time ago.
While that certainly doesn’t look like any Android UI we’ve seen, BoyGeniusReport is hearin’ whispers that the handset you see up above is one of Motorola’s first outings in Android territory.
Codenamed, nicknamed, or just plain name-named (they’re not sure which) “Ironman”, Motorola is supposedly aiming at a Q3 release. Specific specs are absent, but this handset will purportedly be a relatively high-end beast: Wi-Fi, 3G, a “screamin’ CPU”, and a high-res camera are all mentioned.
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While some phones stay true to a single flick (take Sony Ericsson handsets and any Bond movie ever, for example), some leap around Hollywood like a heiress on a booze binge. One example of the not so loyal? The Nokia 5800. After making its ultra-early debut in The Dark Knight, it’s jumping over to the Star Trek camp.
On May 1st (7 days before the film’s release), UK retailer Phones4u will be slinging the 5800 Star Trek edition in red, blue, and black/silver. It’s free of charge, if you’re willing to lock on to a Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, or Orange contract. So what makes it Star Trek? Unfortunately, no phaser is included. It does have Star Trek screensavers, wallpapers, and ringtones preloaded – and that’s almost as cool, right? … Right? Anyone?
[via UnwiredView]
As more and more people are getting their hands on the Pre, it looks like a few more developers have been given access to the SDK emulator. Well, either that or someone who has had access for a while got a little antsy and finally caved to leaking a ton of emulator screenshots.
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It’s now just about May and there’s still been no official word from Palm when it comes to an official launch date or pricing for the Pre. All we know is what we’ve known for a long time — it’ll launch the first half of 2009; a window that is quickly closing. But a few pieces of new evidence today point to an actual specific date. And it’s a very intriguing one — June 7: The day before a likely Apple keynote address at its WWDC conference.
That is of course interesting because Apple could very well use that keynote to unveil the next version of the iPhone, just as it did last year for the iPhone 3G. A public launch of the Pre the day before could suck some of the wind out of Apple’s sails. But it’s also pretty risky, as it means Palm only has one day to convince everyone that its product is better then the latest version of the iPhone which is likely to have some substantial improvements. And no one knows for sure what all those improvements are — it could very well blow the Pre right out of the water, one day into its young life.
Man, they’re just cranking these things out. Just two weeks after iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 3 (which was, in turn, two weeks after iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 2), we’ve got another Beta.
Beta 4 of iPhone OS 3.0 is now available for developers, as long as they’ve downloaded the brand spankin’ new iPhone 8.2 pre-release. It just went live, so we’re not quite sure what’s new here. If you spot anything, let us know – we’ll do the same.
Also, it’s starting to look like we can expect Betas every 2 weeks until release. Next one ought to be on Tuesday, May 12.
Update: Details are still incredibly sparse, but here’s what we’ve heard so far:
- MMS now working on more carriers without modified carrier bundles (Only one report – still working on confirming this.)
- General performance updates, far less crash prone than the past builds.
- The “Store” settings pane now functions, allowing you basic control over your iTunes account
- API Change: “SKErrorPaymentNowAllowed allowed and was replaced with SKErrorPaymentNotAllowed”
More as we hear it.
